


Snapshots in the Lives of Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel

by emperorpenguin (dortmundbvbbabe)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Domestic, Drabbles, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 08:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7927963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dortmundbvbbabe/pseuds/emperorpenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles about Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel. Non-linear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stella Goes To the Vet

Stella calmly looks up at Carl and blinks twice. He’s holding her leash loosely and looks around the waiting room at the other dogs being held by their owners and the few cats that are meowing in their carriers. If Stella realizes that she’s at the vet’s, she doesn’t indicate any sort of anxiety about it whatsoever.

It’s not an emergency, and for that Carl should be grateful. He’d had pets growing up and had taken them to the vets so it shouldn’t be a big deal, but because it was a routine check up and because this was Phil’s dog, Phil’s best friend Carl felt even more responsible than usual. She was supposed to have had a visit earlier in the week, one afternoon after practice, but the vet had had to take an emergency patient which caused Stella’s visit to be rescheduled. 

“Stella Kessel?” One of the vet tech’s asks. 

Carl scoops Stella up, only needing one arm to carry her through the hall to the waiting room.

“I see you have a new friend here, Stella,” the vet tech coos as he leans down and scratches Stella’s head. She eases into the touch and if possible, Carl would have thought that she was smiling.

“Phil had a charity thing,” Carl says as if that explains it all. 

“That’s fine,”

 

They have a short wait before the vet comes it. Stella doesn’t mind a bit as she investigates the small exam room sniffing the other dogs’ scents. The vet arrived and greeted Carl and then Stella who just wagged her tail.

“Anything unsual?” The vet asks.

“No, she’s very healthy.”

“Great, then I’ll just do a quick exam and give her her rabies vaccine,” the vet says as she bribes Stella with a little dog biscuit. 

“Okay,” Carl says and waits patiently to the side as vet does her work, occasionally making a goofy face at Stella mostly for his own amusement.

 

“How’d it go?” Phil asks when he returns home. Carl had been home for an hour or so and Stella was asleep on the floor, taxed from the trip to the vet. He had been playing at a charity golf tournament and looked 

“Good,” Carl says with just enough hesitation that it stops Phil from heading into the living room. 

“Uh oh, you don’t sound so sure,” Phil says.

“No, no, she was an A+ patient today,” Carl says.

“But…”

“It just, it felt really domestic, you know,” Carl explains and Phil waits for him to continue. “Like you were entrusting me with Stella and I know how important she is to you.”

“Well, yeah, but she’s important to you, too,” Phil says, just the slightest bit confused. 

“Yeah, but you knew that she would be safe with me,” Carl says, knowing the words couldn’t really convey the warmth in him. “Just, thanks for letting me take her.”

Phil just nods, slightly awkwardly and Carl can tell he still doesn’t 100% understand but warmly wraps Carl in a side-hug. “You’re welcome.”


	2. Phil is on the Kiss Cam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously Phil's too much of a shy puppy to do this, but just play along...

 

They’re in the intermission and Phil’s on the bench sitting next to Sid. They’d each put on a shift and with the score up 2-0 in the second period, both were assured a little break before they’d be put on again. Carl was warming up just a little with a few of the other players and Phil and Sid are talking about a few of the plays from the first period. 

Then the goddamned kiss cam comes on, and a lot of guys surprisingly like seeing the awkwardness of the couples and Flower, being the sap that he was, just enjoyed the little bit of romance on them. They had had one proposal in the last year, a few awkward rejections, and some half-hearted first date kisses that brought levity.  

The lights dim in CONSOL as the camera searches for the first target. It settles on an unsuspecting but cute couple on the Visitor’s end of the rink and Phil doesn’t 

Phil looks over at Conor who nudged him, slightly annoyed at the interruption, but followed his line of sight up to jumbotron which was currently televising his face with Sid’s from the bench and surrounded them in a flowery, heart filled border. 

Sure, they’d become better friends after the first thing, but dating? Phil chuckled at the implication. He and Sid were both on the shyer, awkward end of the spectrum and trying to date each other would just be unimaginable. But, as they’ve gotten older and more comfortable around each other, they have relaxed a little. Phil had heard of the kiss cam operators occasionally pranking the players by putting the spotlight on them and there was even one time that Chara kissed a rookie on the cheek which had been interesting to say the least. Phil never thought that he’d be a target of it though. 

So Phil looks to Sid for permission and loops an arm around the captain’s shoulders and pulls him closer in a brotherly hug. The camera doesn’t ease off of them, though, and the crowd just seems to erupt in cheers. This, honestly, is Phil’s worst nightmare and Sid doesn’t look much happier about it either. He looks across the ice to where Carl is just staring at the jumbotron, before he turns towards the bench to lock eyes with Phil.

Carl was always the more affectionate of the two of them. Phil just turned towards Sid, hoping by some grace of God, the camera would find some couple, some  _ actual _ couple to harass. But instead, the camera just seems to zoom closer. Suddenly, Phil’s head is turned away from where he was looking at Sid and pulled across the bench. Carl almost pulled Phil over the edge and kissed him. It was awkward, given the helmets they were wearing and the clink of the plexiglass and unlike the smooth, sexy ones they shared off the ice. The fans’ noise faded into the background and Phil just stared stunned at Carl before he skated off. Sid and Conor just looked slightly amazed and stunned by the turn of events. 

 

After the game, Phil sides up to Carl, “You were jealous, weren’t you?”

Carl shrugs, “Can’t have you start thinking the captain would be a better pick than me.”

**Author's Note:**

> If there's any drabble about the two you'd like to read, just add it in the comments and I'll do my best (within reason)


End file.
